Salmon Farms: A Nightmare for Salmon and Our Oceans

Original article: Salmoneras: Un infierno para los salmones y el océano

By Mauricio Serrano, Director of Veganuary Latin America

Each month, new revelations emerge highlighting serious issues associated with the salmon farming industry in Chile.

Reports range from massive fish mortality events and environmental damage in protected areas, to the tragic deaths of workers employed at these marine facilities.

The reality is that we are facing an industry that not only incurs significant environmental impacts but also subjects extraordinary creatures like salmon to life in captivity. 

These animals, capable of traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles during their natural migrations, are reduced from exploring vast oceans and rivers to living confined in marine cages, constantly swimming in circles.

Once playing a crucial role in ecosystems, they now live crowded together, exposed to stress, diseases, and parasites, some of which can also threaten other marine species.

The statistics illustrate the severity of this situation.

In 2025 alone, Chile «harvested» over 1.1 million tons of salmon, while according to the National Fishing and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), the total mortality rate in salmon farming centers reached 9.7%, equating to more than 60,000 tons of dead fish.

Such figures should prompt us to reflect on what happens beneath the ocean’s surface, where the lives of these creatures are reduced to mere production metrics.

When discussing the value of water, our coastlines, and their natural resources, we should first consider the life they support. However, it appears that their worth is primarily measured by the economic benefits we can extract, even when that entails compromising ecosystems that need protection. 

The establishment of a salmon farm may generate economic advantages for certain localities, companies, and the government. Yet behind those benefits lies a reality too often overlooked: allegations of animal cruelty, environmental pollution, and dangerous working conditions for employees in these facilities. 

This is not a new issue. For years, authorities, environmental organizations, and animal rights activists have raised alarms about the consequences of this industry.

Among these advocates is the NGO Animal Libre, which will soon release a short documentary titled «Under the Cages,» revealing the conditions that fish endure within salmon farms and the often-invisible animal suffering experienced by many species.

When we talk about salmon farming, discussions typically revolve around production, exports, jobs, and economic growth. Rarely do we pause to consider the millions of animals confined beneath the water’s surface. 

Salmon are not just tons of product or figures on a balance sheet. They are sentient beings capable of perceiving their environment, feeling pain, and developing complex natural behaviors that are nearly impossible to express under intensive farming conditions. 

Perhaps it is time to question whether economic development can continue to justify the transformation of our oceans into spaces of confinement and suffering for millions of creatures, while also affecting entire ecosystems due to the practices of this industry. 

A worthwhile exercise during this month of fish and oceans, spearheaded globally by Veganuary, would be to sit back and reconsider the sea and its inhabitants from a different perspective.

Because the ocean is not a factory, and salmon are not products: they are lives that deserve respect.

Mauricio Serrano